Real Hot Bagels
Crossroads of the world
Whatever your interest it can be satisfied

Central Park
The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
The Food
Riding the Staten Island Ferry
South Street Seaport
Seeing A Broadway Play
The Madness That Is Times Square

Ethnic food galore
the skyline
great jazz
great art
great shopping
"the buzz"

pizza by the slice, right there on the street.

Running into neighbors on the corner
24 hour subway system
Being able to walk to the grocery, shopping, subway, restaurants, dry cleaner, etc.
Cheap and plentiful taxis
Incredible shopping
Culture
The feeling of having the world at my fingertips!

THE DIVERSITY!

Amazing cultural opportunities - no matter what your interests

Great food of almost any ethnicity

Many things open 24 hours (Being able to have dinner - or medicine - delivered at 2am if you want/need)

The people (not fakey friendly and super smiley - but real - with all their eccentricities)

The Yankees - even now

Well, EVERYTHING!!

Walking everywhere! It's my dream life.

Art practically at the doorstep- at least just a subway ride away. No hassle with parking.

The public transportation.

The energy and hum of a busy city

New Yorkers

And saving the best for last
The Pizza!!!

I've only been once, but I can't think of anything I don't love about it.

Brooklyn's Prospect Park, the much ignore, yet more quaint of the two big parks in NY. It was designed by the same man who created Central Park, and he stated that he preferred Prospect over Central.

Bagels and Pizza...again go to Brooklyn for the best doughy treats around. Also check out villabate bakery in Bensonhurst. One of the most beautiful and delicious bakeries in all of NY.

If you skip over Brooklyn when visiting NYC, you are doing yourself a disservice.

Andy
TravelByAndy.com

The neighborhoods (from Little Italy to Chinatown to Soho to Times Square to the Upper East, it's really many little cities in one);

The walkability (as a corallary to 1), walk a few blocks and you can go from cobblestone streets with upscale clubs and stores to narrow alleys where Chinese is the spoken language and you can buy dim sum off the street to neon lights to a calm residential neighborhood. No need for a car here folks.

The ease and convenience to experience amazing things (you don't need to go far to hit one of the best museums, upscale restaurants, pizza joints, ethnic eateries, breathtaking skyscrapers, nightlife, musicals/plays, parks, etc. - odds are, no matter where you are, you're within a few blocks of something great).

The debate - the fact that this thread will ultimately have tens if not hundreds of posts referencing entirely different things as to what makes the city so great.

Neighborhoods
being able to walk anywhere
Food - all kinds
theatre and museums and a wonderful public transportation system

One of my favorite cities. I feel very comfortable there and love to visit......

Just so you're aware - there are more than 2 large parks in NYC.

In the Bronx you have the Bptanical Gardens and Van Cortlandt Park and there are several large parks in Queens as well.

All of the above, and the street fairs!

the diversity
the neighborhoods
the Arts
the great food
the mix of old and new
Central Park

the feistiness

I LOVE living in a city that is beloved by so many.

"...Dont care if its chinatown or riverside,
I dont have any reasons, Ive left them all behind-
Im in a new york state of mind."

One of Robert Moses's dreams was to have contiguous parks through all of Queens.

The sheer New Yorkiness of it! The New Yorkers and their love affair with their city.

That there's more to it than NYC...

The energy
Broadway
The variety and diversity
(and I used to say "Sam's" - but they have closed )